A look at what's going on in Trinidad, on H Street, and in the larger area north of Capitol Hill.

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Wednesday, January 07, 2015

Just a Love Tap?

A member of the team from the Pursuit Wine Bar (1421 H Street) sent in this photo of a streetcar and and silver car getting all up close and personal tonight in the 1400 block of H Street. MPD are on the scene. I assume based on the photo that there were no injuries. A few days ago a car hit (it was the car driver's fault) a streetcar near 6th and H.

Of course they're Maryland drivers, and ignorant welfare sucking ones at that. Read the article in the post about this accident, the driver immediately starts complaining about back and neck pain. Gotta get that lawsuit, get that gubmit dollar.

2:20,I have definitely posted photos from the scene when cars have hit pedestrians, cyclists, other cars, and even buildings. If there's an accident around here and someone sends me a photo that is appropriate for publishing I will generally try to publish it.

I suspect you are expressing frustration with the general media glee in retweeting and posting accounts/photos/video of every delay or accident befalling the streetcar. The only thing is that I haven't really been doing that. If I'm posting something here it's because I think it's pertinent to people that live, work, or play in the area. Cool?

The streetcar is having some issues, but they seem mostly to be caused by really horrible car drivers and idiots who double park. Hopefully things will run more smoothly once people get used to the streetcar.

I dunno guys. Usually when one car rear ends another, the one behind is at fault. It sounds pretty hollow to say it's the Maryland driver's fault for slowing down, unless they are saying this was some sort of "swoop and sqauat".

I doesn't change my favorable opinion of streetcars, but somebody should point out that this isn't the same as the car that blew a red light and got t-boned.

9:45,Here's that WaPostory. DDOT says the car driver changed lanes and immediately slowed down (basically stopping short). The car driver disputes that, says she never changed lanes. She also started complaining of neck and back pain and generally behaving as if she were injured in the collision. Then she REFUSED to go to the hospital to get checked out. The article wording is kind of weird but says something like because she is a Maryland resident she refused to go to a District hospital. It sounds a bit off to me.

Maryland Judiciary Case search returned the following matches for the driver's name and vehicle description (Lexus) in PG and MoCo for me:*EXCEEDING MAXIMUM SPEED: 112 MPH IN A POSTED 55 MPH ZONE (Case Dismissed)*DRIVING VEH IN EXCESS OF REASONABLE AND PRUDENT SPEED ON HWY (Case Dismissed)*FAIL TO DISPLAY LICENSE ON DEMAND (Guilty, $50 fine)

I've learned at dismissing cases of drivers caught doing extremely excessive speeds in not uncommon in Maryland. My brother has managed it once, my sister twice. Though neither managed to do 112 in a 55. How on earth do you dismiss that? (Jayson Werth wishes he did his speeding in Maryland)

Anon 9:45: The streetcar isn't like a car...you can't just jump in front of it and expect it to stop on a dime...drivers who fail to comprehend that and who are used to driving like rude, impatient jerks are going to find this out very quickly if they start to mess with the streetcar like they do with the other vehicles they blow past every day. The results serve them right, though unfortunately they also will cost us, the taxpayers, for repairs to the streetcars.

I doubt there's any structural damage, but the city isn't going to proudly roll out their new streetcars with cosmetic damage, so there will be costs for repairing dents/dings and repainting...and god help us if these losers actually succeed in their lawsuits for sore necks.

To answer the question about how you get an excessive speeding ticket dismissed in Maryland. The answer is simple, you go to court, if the officer isn't there, you stand up and say not guilty then it is dismissed. If the officer is there, you call and get a continuance and try again another day for them not to show.